SLDC Creates Department Focused on Strategic Growth, Fills Key Positions to Sustain and Implement Economic Justice Action Plan
St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) recently made some organizational changes to strategically align its departments and significantly invest in new positions that will focus on the successful long-term implementation of the Economic Justice Action Plan.
“Having the right talent, team, technology and operations in place will ensure we can continue implementing the Economic Justice Action Plan well into the future,” said SLDC President & CEO Neal Richardson. “I am excited about the adjustments we’ve made across SLDC’s departments to bring strategic leadership focused on future growth, and the addition of several new roles critical to SLDC’s long-term success — specifically around Neighborhood Transformation and the LRA.”
SLDC has been awarded $112 million of federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to scale its operations, build new programs and implement the Economic Justice Action Plan in the City of St. Louis. Those resources are limited through 2026, which is why the organization created the new Strategic Growth department. Under the leadership of SVP, Lance Knuckles, the Strategic Growth team of strategists will focus on ensuring SLDC can successfully scale and sustain its programs, positions and operations long-term.
SLDC Creates New Strategic Growth Department
With a mix of seasoned SLDC staff members and newly created positions, the Strategic Growth team is comprised of:
Vacancy Strategist, Laura Ginn – Laura has been with SLDC for five years, and in this role for three and a half, working to identify gaps in housing and property vacancy, bringing forth solutions and partners to address those gaps.
Business Strategist, Lavoughnda White – In this new position, Lavoughnda will work across all SLDC and City departments to understand how we can collectively support small businesses, including supporting the SLDC team at the Northside Economic Empowerment Center (NEEC).
Housing Strategist, Dillion Holliam – A new role that will execute a comprehensive strategy to provide a continuum of housing affordability both rental and ownership for all residents of the City of St. Louis. Dillion’s work will address residents that live at or below 80% AMI.
Economic Justice Strategy Manager, Cheryl Campbell – Since joining SLDC in early 2023, Cheryl has been leading and managing various outputs, outcomes and objectives of the Economic Justice Action Plan, ensuring SLDC remains committed to its deliverables and continued progress.
VP, Strategic Partnerships, Stephen Davis – Steve will continue to focus on strategic partnerships at the federal, state and local levels. He also leads SLDC’s Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction (BREA) efforts in close coordination with other St. Louis BRE partners.
Director of Community Partnerships, Caressa Davis – Caressa joined SLDC in June 2023, working with Steve to keep the business community and non-profits aligned with SLDC’s Economic Justice objectives while strengthening and deepening relationships.
SLDC Welcomes VPs of Neighborhood Transformation and Real Estate
As part of the departmental restructuring, Lance Knuckles’ previous roles overseeing Community and Neighborhood Transformation and as Director of Real Estate have been separated into two newly created positions:
VP, Neighborhood Transformation, Durrell Smith – Durrell will provide operational leadership for the alignment and coordination between residents, community partners, developers and small businesses. He will offer strategic alignment and activation of daily operations to support SLDC’s team of nine Neighborhood Managers to coordinate, direct and implement programs and projects that support community engagement and inter-agency cooperation.
VP, Real Estate – LRA, Shelton Anderson – Shelton will oversee the physical and financial performance and business strategy of SLDC’s land bank of properties within the City of St. Louis, the LRA. This includes facilitating the due diligence process on new development projects, underwriting for new opportunities, identifying and implementing ways to optimize use of properties and land, and working in partnership with the facilities management team to develop and implement annual asset plans with specific strategies to maximize the value of the properties.
SLDC continues to grow and expand, and is seeking exceptional candidates to fill open positions that will further economic development and Economic Justice in the City of St. Louis. To learn more about careers at SLDC, visit https://www.developstlouis.org/careers